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PLUMBAGINACEAE

LEADWORT FAMILY

Elizabeth McClintock

Annual, perennial herb, subshrub, or vine
Leaves simple, generally in a basal rosette (sometimes cauline), entire or lobed
Inflorescence: panicle, head, raceme, or cyme, generally ± scapose
Flower bisexual, radial, generally small; calyx tubular, often membranous or partly scarious, lobes 5; petals 5, nearly free to ± fused, clawed, ± twisted together; stamens 5, opposite petals, sometimes epipetalous; ovary superior, generally 5-lobed or -ribbed, chamber and ovule 1, styles 5, sometimes fused
Fruit: utricle, achene, or capsule, ± enclosed in persistent calyx
Genera in family: ± 12 genera, ± 400 species: ± worldwide, especially Medit, w&c Asia; some cultivated as ornamental (Limonium used as dried flower)
Reference: [Channell & Wood 1959 J Arnold Arbor 40:391–397]

LIMONIUM

SEA-LAVENDER, MARSH-ROSEMARY

Perennial (rarely annual); rhizome ± woody
Leaves few–several, oblanceolate to obovate, entire or lobed, generally petioled
Inflorescence: panicle, branched ± from plant base, often ending in (but ± open between) 1-sided, spike-like clusters; involucre 0, other bracts subtending individual flowers and along axes
Flower: calyx generally 5–10-ribbed; styles 5, ± free
Species in genus: ± 150 species: ± worldwide, often in saline soils
Etymology: (Greek: meadow, from habitat of many species)
Reference: [Kunkel & Sunding 1967 Cuad de Bot Mus Canar 2:9–18]

Introduced

L. otolepis (Schrenk) Kuntze


Leaves in basal rosette dead before flowers appear; blade 3–8 cm, 1.5–3 cm wide, < or > petiole, obovate to oblong, ± entire, base tapered; leaves on lower inflorescence axis < 3 cm, ± round, sessile, clasping stem
Inflorescence 40–80 cm; branches slender, most without flowers; axes glabrous, not winged
Flower: calyx tube ± 1 mm, lobes ± 0.5 mm, white
Ecology: Uncommon. Disturbed, coastal, urban areas, especially salt marshes, roadsides
Elevation: < 100 m.
Bioregional distribution: San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to w&c Asia
Synonyms: L. perfoliatum (Boiss.) Kuntze misapplied

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